This award was used to acquire an Instron ElectroPuls E3000 (EP) for Mechanical Testing. This is an electrodynamic instrument for slow static tests and high-frequency dynamic fatigue testing for materials such as polymers, nanocomposites, metals for microelectronics, and soft materials. It can be used to perform tests such a tensile, compressive, fracture, fatigue, and flexural in a large range of materials and components, and a variety of environmental conditions. The accessories include an environmental chamber for fatigue testing in air to temperatures up to 350 C, a liquid nitrogen cooling unit for tests to temperature down to -100 C, and a bio-bath for the testing of hydrogels, biological tissues, polymer films, and metals in a temperature range from ambient to 40 C. A standard video extensometer and software to measure strains at micro-level without specimen contact are also included in the system. The installation of the system at the Soft Matter Characterization Laboratory located in the Chemical Engineering building was completed in January 2015. Basic and advanced training ended in March 2015. The EP will support research in nanotechnology, materials science and engineering, and bioengineering the Departments of Chemical, General, and Mechanical Engineering, and Chemistry as well.

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